The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-10-24
Camping Out.

becoming merely name for moving
,ut of ones permanent habitation and
iwelling for a few weeks in a we'll
quilt lodge. smaller, perhaps. than
,ne's own home, but As comfortable
ind almost as convenient; with tables,
.hairs and crockery, carpets and cur
,ajns, beds with sheets and blankets on
zeal bedsteads, a stove and its full out
1t OF cooking utensils, wherefrom
meals are served in the regular ways
If civilization. And so. living in near
v the same fashion of his ordinary life.
except that he wears flannel shirt
ind SLOUGH hat. and perhaps fishes a
little and loafs more than his ordinary
custom. our camper imagines that
he is getting quite close to the primitive
ways OF hunters and trappers, that he
living their life with nothing lacking
put the rough edges, which he has in
yeniously smootbed away. But he is
mistaken. In Kidding himself of some
If its discomforts he has lost a great
Zeal of the best Of real camp life, the
Ipice of small adventure, and the wood
" flavor that its relationships and
nakeshift appliances give it. Ii one
sleeps little cold under his one blank
1t on his bed of evergreen twigs,
though he does not take cold, he real
zes in some degree the discomfort of
Boones bvouac when he cuddled be-
side his hounds to keep from freezing
and feels slightly heroic. His slum-
,ers are seasoned with dreams of the
wild woods, as the balsamic perfume
of his couch steals into his nostrils; his
companions snores invade in his drow-
" senses rs the growl of bears, and
The thunderous whir of grouse bursting
,ut of untrodden thickets. When he
lwakes in the gray Of early morning
10 finds that the few hours of sleep
nave wrought miracle of rest, and he
ieels himself nearer to nature when he
washes his face in the brook, and when
1e rinses off his sleepiness in bowl or
,asin. The water of the spring is
solder and has finer flavor when he
drinks it from a birch bark cup of his
own making. Tea made in a frying
pan has an aroma never known to
luch poor mortals as brew their tea In
/ teapot, and no mill ever ground such
coffee as that which is tied up in rag
md pounded with stone or Ratchet
head. A sharpened stick for fork
gives a zest to tho bit of port 'frlzzled'
IN as a rude spit and plattered on
.lean chip or sheet of bark, and no fish
was ever more toothsome than when
,roiled on a gridiron improvised OF
rreen wands, or roasted Indian fashion,
N cleft stick,
What can make amends for the loss
If the campfire, with innumerable pic
lures glowing and shifting in its heart
md conjuring strange shapes out of
The surrounding gloom, and suggesting
lnseen mysteries that the circle OF
darkness holds behind its rimP
How are the wells of conversation to
Dc thawed out by black stove, so that
tales of hunters and fishers craft and
adventure shall flow till the measure of
mans belief is overrunp How is the
,ongenial spark of true companionship
10 be kindled when people brood
around stove and light their pipes
with matches, and not with Goals
matched out Of the camp-fire's edge,
DR. with twigs that burn briefly with
battling fameP
Yet, let it be understood that make
believe camping is better than no camp
ing. 1t cannot but bring people into
more intimate relations with nature
than they would be If they stayed at
home. and so to better acquaintance
with and greater interest in the mother
who deals so impartially with all her
children. Forest and Stream.